Diagnosis of Hodgkin Lymphoma

The first step in diagnosing a disease is observe signs and special symptoms of this disease symptoms of HL include:

• High fever
• Night sweats
• Persistent fatigue
• Severe itching
• Loss of weight without clear explanation(10% of body weight )
• Painless swelling of lymph nodes in the neck, armpits or groin
• High sensitivity to the effects of alcohol.

There are two main types of Hodgkin’s lymphoma1

• • classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma: the pathologic hallmark of classical HL is presence of multi-nucleated Reed-sternberg Which distinguish this type from other types of HL - Classical HL includes Nodular sclerosis which is the most common subtype , mixed cellularity, lymphocyte depletion and lymphocyte rich classical HL2
  • Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma : has other types of cells called lymphocytic and Histocytic cells instead of Reed-sternberg .

We can say that it is important to diagnose the disease is to get information about patient’s personal and family medical history, then the patient undergoes certain tests and procedures which are necessary in diagnosis Hodgkin’s lymphoma, including :

• A physical exam : it is important in this examination to check for swollen lymph nodes, including the patient's neck, underarm, groin area as well as a swollen spleen or liver.
• Blood tests : to check for the possibility of cancer through a blood sample taken from the patient's blood and examined in the lab
• Imaging tests : To look for signs of HL in some areas of the patient's body. This test include X-ray , CT and positron emission tomography .
• A lymph node biopsy procedure : to see if Reed-Sternberg cells which are abnormal cells are found within the lymph node .
• A bone marrow biopsy and aspiration procedure : by removing a sample of bone marrow from patient’s hipbone to look for Hodgkin’s lymphoma cells.

And there are another tests but using them depending on patient’s situation.Staging Hodgkin’s lymphoma :Determining the stage of the disease is very important as it helps to determine treatment options and patient’s prognosis . There are four stages of Hodgkin’s lymphoma depending on how widespread the cancer is in the body .

Stage I : the Cancer is so limited that it does not exceed one lymph node or a single organ

Stage II : At this stage, the spread of cancer is broader than stage I but remains limited to one section either above or below the diaphragm.

Stage III : At this stage the cancer spread in both above and below the diaphragm.

Stage IV : This stage is the most advanced of HL and the cancer cells at this stage are in more than one portion of one or more organs and tissues .